Areas of Research
Built Environment + Health
The primary aim of the Built Environment and Health concentration area is to generate new knowledge and theories that demonstrate how human health and well-being may be improved through design. As such, this concentration area builds upon an evidence-based design philosophy where innovative architectural designs are measured using various performance metrics in an effort to produce a knowledge base that can be used to inform future design interventions. Through a specialized interdisciplinary curriculum, students will be prepared for a professional career in research, teaching, and other specialized fields that may advance theoretical, methodological and practical knowledge related to design for health.
- Healthy and Sustainable Community Design
- Aging in Place
- Health in the Home
- History and Theory
- Designing for Safety
- Designing to Improve User Experience
Regional/Community Design + Development
This concentration emphasizes research on urban, suburban, rural, and regional change and related interventions by planners, architects, landscape architects, and other built environment professions. The social, cultural, economic and ecological implications of urban sprawl, real estate development, affordable housing, gentrification, and conservation easements are among the many relevant scholarship topics.
- Community/Neighborhood Structure
- Urban Design Process
- Sustainable Urban Design
- Housing Affordability
- Regional/Community Visioning
- Land Assemblage + Development
Restoration, Sustainability + Land Ecology
The Restoration, Sustainability, and Land Ecology concentration focuses on research related to the preservation, conservation, and restoration of natural and historic cultural resources. It also emphasizes strategies for creating a more sustainable future through planning, design, and building processes. Students may work with faculty from numerous disciplines to develop a course of study and engage in dissertation research. Resources available to students in this concentration include the newly formed Clemson University Restoration Institute, the Warren Lasch Laboratory, and the Graduate Center in Historic Preservation in the Charleston area.
- Cultural Planning + Policy
- Ecological Planning + Policy
- Compatible Design
- Design Interventions
- Materials
- Cultural Values
- Ecological Values
- Economic Values
Architectural Design, Technology + Construction Processes
Architectural Design, Technology + Construction Processes focuses on generating new knowledge in design and building construction that enhances the built environment and, so, our everyday lives. This concentration benefits from a multi-disciplinary curriculum guided by faculty from the PDBE Program, joined by faculty members from Engineering, the Social and Health Sciences, Education and elsewhere at Clemson. Graduates are equipped for careers in research, teaching, and other specialized fields that advance theoretical, methodological and practical knowledge useful for the design and construction disciplines in a world of limited resources that is increasingly digital, networked, mobile and environmentally at-risk.
- Interactive and Intelligent Environments
- Architectural Materials
- Sustainable Design and Construction Processes
- Design Thinking, Modeling and Representation
- History + Theory of Architectural Technology & Building Science
- Advanced Construction Management & Processes
- Building Performance
